“That’s my point,” Daniel said. “They aren’t unrelated.”
I spoke up then, my voice trembling. “Detective, my sister Emma… she has been trying to have a baby for five years. She finally got pregnant. This is her baby. It has to be.”
“Mrs. Carter,” Sanchez said gently, turning to me. “We checked the hospital admission records on our way up. Your sister, Emma Vance, was admitted six hours ago. But there’s a discrepancy.”
“What discrepancy?”
“The intake nurse noted that Emma was fully dilated upon arrival, but she had no prenatal records on file with St. Mary’s. She claimed her OB-GYN was Dr. Aris at the Evergreen Women’s Center.”
I nodded. “Yes. That’s where she went for all her checkups.”
Sanchez exchanged a dark look with one of the uniformed officers. “The Evergreen Women’s Center has been closed for renovations for three months, Mrs. Carter. There are no doctors practicing there.”
The room spun. I gripped the edge of the table. “That… that can’t be right. She sent me ultrasound pictures. She went to appointments.”
“Or she went somewhere she thought was a clinic,” Daniel murmured.
“I need to examine the infant,” Sanchez said, standing up. “And I need to speak to your sister. If what Mr. Carter says is true, and if that clinic is involved, we are dealing with something far more dangerous than a mix-up.”
We walked back to Room 304. It felt like walking to a execution.
![]()
